Hope

I've been reminded recently how precious little time we really have. Anything can happen and take a loved one from this life into the next.

Keep hope alive even when it seems as though there is none.

Stop waiting for the right time in life. The right time may never happen or it may come too late.

Take hold of your loved ones. Hug them like it could be the last time.

Enjoy every minute of every day.

Have a beautiful day filled with joy, love and happiness!

*$#%& Swearing....Can I Catch it?

Have you ever noticed when you're around people who swear a lot that you start to pick it up?

Many times in life I've gone through periods where I just swear too much. This always leads to me wanting to curb this habit.

Well, I'm there again. Working in a house with a bunch of women who swear all the time has turned me into a trucker. No offense to truckers out there. I'm of course referring to the old saying "swearing like a trucker".

So, it's a new work week. I'm on days this week. Let's see if I can manage this week with 50% less swearing. I should be able to carry out a conversation without bad language.

Have a great day!

Sleep? What's that?

It's too early, but I'm a mom so there's not a lot of wiggle room for sleeping in. Actually, there's just no sleeping in period. If you hadn't already guessed, I've started my first week of the evening shift, 4-midnight. Tuesday night I'd stayed up until just past midnight in an effort to try and get on schedule. Of course, Riley woke me up just after 6 am. Even with the lack of sleep I managed to complete my shift without getting too drowsy. 

We had to clean out a room of a resident who is no longer living in the house. It was a disaster but not the worst they've ever seen there. I had the opportunity to work with another member of the staff. It's been great getting to know all the different staff members. We were quite steady for a while and things calmed down a bit which gave me the opportunity to talk with a couple of the women. 

When I first took my course, the thought of counseling people scared me. I mean I knew it was what I wanted to do, but trying to do it correctly became my worry. Standing in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil and having a conversation with a woman is just as much counseling as sitting in a room across from a client. 

I'm off to finish getting the kids ready for school and then I'm going back to bed. Here's hoping I can go back to sleep. If I don't nap I'll never make it through the night. 

Have a great day!!

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Chocolate Anyone?

Today marks my second day of placement.

I helped put away the Food Bank order. Some of which wasn't surprising. What I do find surprising is the amount of sweets. Of course, everyone should be able to get a treat. I'm all for that. What I find so astonishing is that there's more sweets than real food. I've been told that's just par for the course.

When people donate food to the Food Bank do they not donate real food?

What's up with that?

First Day Complete

Well, I survived my first day. It was very interesting and also very long. I wish I could share more details, but i can't.

I've met some amazing women who've been through more than I can imagine. I've already seen more than I expected to on my first day. I think this is really going to be a great learning experience for me.

I already feel like a part of the team which is nice, I feel less like an outsider than I anticipated. 

Off to have a bus nap before I get home and have to feed my family.

Ciao

Pre First Day of Placement

I'm nervous. Placement starts today. Eeek!

On the bright side it's 6:20 and I'm ready to go which means 20 minutes to relax with a cup of coffee. Did I say relax? I spoke too soon. R's decided to throw a fit - my pants are falling down, I don't wanna go upstairs, I want socks. I'm not sure why these are matters to cry about, I have a feeling she must be tired.

I CAN DO THIS! I'll let you know how my first day goes. See you on the other side!

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The Loss of the Smile

Well, I'm on my way to placement to fill out paperwork before I start tomorrow. I haven't had to take the bus in a very long time. I've always made sure to smile brightly at every driver I encounter. Apparently OC Transpo drivers aren't allowed to smile.

Now I know that's not really a rule. What has happened to our society when we can't even smile at strangers? I don't want anything from you. Okay that's not true either...all I want from you is a smile. Is that really too much to ask of people?

I PASSED!

I Passed! I Passed! I Passed!

I got a call from my teacher last night to say that I passed and more than that I passed with a 92%!!!!! 

I am so happy and relieved. I admit I'm still shell shocked. It's all been a blur of lectures, stories, assignments (I'll be happy to NEVER do ANOTHER essay again!), midterms, tests, finding a placement, and passing my comprehensive at the end. All of this and so much more has been my life for the last 8 months. 

Tomorrow I start my new journey - working at my student placement for the next 8 weeks or so (I need 320 hours). My biggest challenge is going to be putting myself to bed at a decent time. Oh, and making sure the kids have everything they need ready the night before! 

Now, I just want to take a moment to thank everyone who's been there for me especially over the last 8 months. I've gone through some really rough patches and if it wasn't for you (you know who you are) I don't think I would have survived - let alone succeeded! I appreciate all of the prayers that were going around behind the scenes. I am so grateful to those who encouraged me when I was so discouraged. I am thankful to those who believed in me even when I couldn't believe in myself. I love you all. 

I Passed! I Passed! I Passed!

Have a great day and enjoy some of this sunshine!

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Post Test Post

I'm DONE! 

I can't believe I'm saying those words...I AM DONE. Life feels different now. I can definitely say I learned a helluva lot which I owe to such an awesome teacher - he never made it easy, but he was always fair. 

I should hear back tonight/tomorrow what I got on my test. 

Is it weird that I'm more nervous now than I was for my test? 

Tomorrow I meet with my placement to sign papers etc. Wednesday (assuming I passed my test) I will start my placement. It's so weird thinking that in less than 2 days I'll be "working". 

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Pre-Test Post

Okay folks.....it's D-Day...or in my case T-Day, as in Test Day, the BIG test. This test covers 14 of the 19 subjects I've taken in the last 8 months. From ethical counseling to pharmacology and a whole lot in between! My nerves just kicked in - I'm feeling wound right up! I'll post AFTER my test to let you know how I feel about it. Okay enough procrastination off to study! 

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Big Changes and a Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day card (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It's been so long, I'm not sure where to start. I feel completely out of practice. First things first...I've come back to Blogger. Trying to maintain my own site was too complicated with my life right now. It was fun when I was working on it, but the reality becomes I just don't have the time. At least here on Blogger I can just write and I'm pretty sure that was the whole point in blogging. If I can manage blogging once a week I'll be happy. 

You must all be wondering what happened to me? If you recall, I've been in school since September in the Addictions and Community Service Worker program. Friday marked my last official day of class! Tomorrow is my big comprehensive exam that covers a little bit of everything we've studied. Wednesday I start my eight week placement at the Elizabeth Fry Society. Like I said, big changes! 

It's an exciting time full of emotions. I'm happy, sad, nervous and anxious all at the same time. I'm going to miss the people I've grown close to, although I'm sure this is not the end to our friendships! I'm relieved that I've passed all of my courses and at last check I'm sitting around 86% overall. Who knew I could pull off taking a heavy course load as a wife and mother of 3 and still manage 86%? 

There's still a lot to catch up on, but for now this will have to do. I've got a career to start! Have a wonderful day.

Happy Mother's Day!

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